Evan On... Newspapers

A man catches up on the news

Print power

Alan Rusbridge, Editor-in-chief of the Guardian Media Group examines the adapting market: Have newspapers changed?

Is deathless prose on dead trees a dying industry? The Bottom Line presenter Evan Davis reads the future for newspapers.

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There’s enormous concern at newspapers that they’re about to be wiped out by the internet, that the march of technology will make their whole raison d’être, their business model completely obsolete.

It wouldn’t be the first time for such things to occur.

It’s worth thinking about the economic cycle though, because the economical cycle can sometimes preserve companies who frankly should disappear - their time is up.

When there’s a huge boom it can keep a company going longer than it should but, boy, at the moment why we’re feeling is the opposite side of that coin; when there’s a recession the double whammy hits.

Not only is there a structural problem hurting companies, the recession is taking them down too. That’s where the newspapers are at the moment.

That’s my opinion, you can join the debate with the Open University.